I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP (book #3)

I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY (Book #2)

In stores now! In hardback and paperback!Sherry's baaack!! Sherry and her ghost mother team up in a new mystery. Can they keep The Ruler (Sherry's stepmother) safe? There's robotics, ghost hunting and some serious toilet papering. It's scary. It's spooky. It's fun. Oooooo. (p.s. Of course, Josh is back too!To order, online click here

I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES (book #1)

In stores now!

A girl. A guy. A ghost. A heist. Yikes!

Meet reluctant sleuth Sherry Holmes Baldwin!

Sherry (short for Sherlock) wants more mall time, less homework and a certain cute boy. Instead, she's recruited by her mother's ghost to prevent a rhino heist at San Diego's Wild Animal Park.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Greetings and welcome to our first Book Review Club meeting of 2016! I gather we're in for an early spring as per several groundhogs, including Punxsutawney Phil, Shubenacadie Sam, Staten Island Chuck, General Beau Lee. None of these saw his/her shadow yesterday. No matter the season, it's always good to have a book to curl up with. Please scroll down under my review for links to our awesome reviewers. P.S. A little trivia: a group of groundhogs is a repetition.

If I had to choose one word to describe this book, I'd choose "delightful."

In a nutshell (or should I say "in an egg basket"! ha!): Twelve-year-old Sophie and her parents move from LA to a rundown farm they inherited from a great uncle. On the farm, Sophie discovers her great uncle's leftover chickens. But these are not ordinary chickens. These are chickens with super powers. Take Henrietta, for example. She rules the roost. She lays glass eggs and is telekinetic. She's quite moody, and her feathers are often ruffled. Then there's Chameleon who disappears. To avoid spoilers, I won't list the talents of the whole, er, unusual flock. Of course, every book has its bad egg. In Unusual Chickens, it's Ms. Griegson, a local farmer, who wants to steal Sophie's chickens. Sophie must figure out how to outsmart the poultry-napper for good and keep her chickens safe. There are some nice life lessons along the way.

What I Loved (in no particular order): The format. This story is told through letters from Sophie to her grandmother and great uncle (both deceased), letters between Sophie and the mysterious Agnes of the Redwood Farm Supply Company, a correspondence course for looking after chickens, recipes, newspaper articles, amazing line drawings and a quizz (as per the quiz, I would make a very excellent chicken farmer!). Sophie's sunnyside-up, resourceful, plucky attitude. I fell in love with that girl. How the diversity blends into the story and feels realistic. Sophie has brown skin, and her mother is Latino. Sophie is aware they are in the minority in the small town. At one point, they are even mistaken for migrant workers. All the chicken facts. Because there's just something about chickens, right? Lastly, the humor.